What we want isn't what we get
by chibi-eladiel
Summary: All the Tracy family awaits the birth of Alan and Tin-Tin's first baby. They will have a surprise...
1. Chapter 1

_Hem…__as you could see when you read these lines, English isn't my mother tongue. It isn't my first fic in English but my beta reader didn't know the series, so I couldn't ask her to correct this translation (the fic was originally written in French, my mother tongue). So please be indulgent, I'll try soon to find someone to correct it…_

« Virgil, give me the paint! »

An indescribable activity was reigning in the new room of the Tracy house that Gordon, Scott and Virgil were preparing. The first was assembling some furniture, the second was painting the walls and Virgil, the family's artist, was ending the fresco he began some weeks ago.

That gave them much occupation out of the rescue missions, but the three of them were happy to do this because they wanted their future niece or nephew to have all the possible convenience. The birth of the future Tracy baby was lived as a very important event for the uncles-to-be who were seeing there the upcoming generation of International Rescue. And, most of all, a baby in the house was really a thing they were waiting because they almost gave up all hope to marry or have a relationship themselves but they all loved kids. Alan and Tin-Tin's wedding had been celebrated last year in the intimacy and the announcement of the arrival of their baby had transformed the house's routine, to the great joy of Jeff Tracy but with, too, a bit of trouble for him who liked his tranquility.

John entered the room.

"So, how is it going?" he asked.

Scott turned to look at him. He had some paint on his face.

"We are almost finished…" he answered.

The four brothers were sure the baby was a boy, a boy they could later train to their work and take with them in mission. Only Tin-Tin was thinking otherwise, and Alan was saying that the important thing for him would be that his child was healthy, he had no preference for the gender he didn't want to know. Besides, John was preparing to go relieve him earlier for him to assist to his baby's birth. Regarding Tin-Tin, she was monitored in the nearest hospital on the mainland and they relayed next to her when they could to avoid her to be alone, and grandma Tracy was helping them in this task.

The color they had chosen for the room's walls was a very clear blue evoking the sky, and Gordon was finishing assembling a little cupboard. In a corner was waiting the cradle with a light veil where the embroidered blanked made by the Tracy mother and where they had slept all five had been placed. It was a thing asked by Jeff, and Alan had accepted. Virgil was finishing a very beautiful fresco portraying all the family which was covering a half of a wall, and he moved back after his last brushstroke.

Gordon posed his screwdriver on the ground.

"Here it is, the little mister's cupboard is finished!" he exclaimed.

And he pushed it near the nappy changing table he had previously assembled. After a little time of drying the little new Tracy could occupy his new quarters when he would decide to come into this world.

Behind them, Kyrano was already placing in the cupboard the baby clothes they all had bought two months ago when the alarm resounded.

"Boys !" said Jeff Tracy's voice in the men's watches.

**MORE TO FOLLOW**


	2. Chapter 2: The end of the waiting

Note: Sorry for the errors but English isn't my mother tongue (I'm French) and I didn't find any native English writer to be my beta reader, even if I had some contacts. If someone can do it, just contact me...

_Chapter 2: The end of the waiting_

The four sons ran to the living room where their father was waiting. He soberly explained the situation.

"We were signaled nine persons trapped in a rock fall in the New Zealander Alps, in an inaccessible zone; it's a work for us. Scott, you go first, Alan will brief you airborne. Virgil, you go too with the mountain rescue equipment, Gordon will help you. John, you'll leave later, when your brother would be back, case of force majeure. Thunderbirds are go!" Jeff ordered.

A few minutes after, they all had taken off. John, sit near of the desk, stayed with his father to wait Scott's return who will accompany him to the space station. It was in the habit of the organization to let one of the brothers as tactical support, he would take out this role. Anyway, because it was Alan who had picked up the message, he would stay in charge of the mission's monitoring.

Fortunately, the rescue did proceed without any problem and Virgil could save the persons in time thanks to his clearing equipment, with Gordon's help for maneuvering the winch. He called just after the mission's end his return, ten minutes after Scott. A rumble announced Thunderbird 1's arrival, and a few minutes after Thunderbird 2's one. John, sitting on the sofa which would take him to Thunderbird 3, was waiting his eldest brother's arrival, his bag posed near him. Scott then came with a fast pace.

"Ok, we go to the space station, I'll do the debriefing for you after…" he said to his father.

Jeff just nodded and the sofa disappeared in the basement. A few minutes later, Thunderbird 3 took off in a characteristic rumble shaking the entire house but which the inhabitants didn't give much attention. Jeff continued to work on some files, drank the cup of coffee Kyrano brought him until he heard the same rumble saying the rocket had returned. Minutes after, Alan and Scott arrived. The eldest brother went to have a shower and Jeff Tracy greeted Alan.

"I suppose you want to go on the mainland, go and kiss Tin-Tin for us …"

Alan nodded with a smile and ran to his bedroom to change his clothes. Fifteen minutes after, they heard his jet take off the island while Gordon was entering the living room.

"I was really thinking marriage would have calmed him down…" he remarked with a grin.

Jeff lightly laughed.

"But it had this effect! But now it is future father's stress, he just began to worry!"

Scott and Virgil entered, and they all made the debriefing while the trade winds were entered by the opened window and the palm trees were slowly undulating…

Alan landed on the airfield which was the nearest of the hospital and walked fast towards the glass block he was seeing. The maternity hospital was a luminous building which seemed peaceful, posed in the middle of a garden. Tin-Tin's bedroom was on the second floor, and he took a lift to go there. He opened slowly the door, in case that she could sleep, but she was just sitting in her bed, wearing a dress in Chinese silk which was covering her nightdress. Her pale and tired face lightened when she saw her husband.

Alan came near her, kissed her and gave her a parcel he brought with him.

"Grandma gave this to me for you before I left, she said you could use it soon…" he said.

Tin-Tin opened the parcel and found some hand-embroidered baby clothes.

"Oh, it's beautiful! I'll call her to say thank you!" she exclaimed.

Alan sat near her, and she snuggled up to him when he was posing his hand on her round belly. They enjoyed this calm moment of intimacy because they didn't see each other since one month.

"How are you doing?" Alan asked.

Tin-Tin laughed lightly.

"I'm feeling enormous as a whale, I can't wait him or her to come into this world…" she answered.

"You had a good idea to come from the space station earlier, my doctor said the birth was very soon now because the baby is positioned head down, he won't be long now…" she added seriously.

He laughed.

"And we will at last know if it is a "he" or a "she"…"

For them, this detail had no importance at all, boy or girl they will love him equally because he or she would be their child. They carefully pondered the fact to be parents before, because of Alan and the family's obligations, but it was at the end less important than the couple's strong child wish. Tin-Tin was knowing her husband would be absent one month out of two, with the missions when he was there, but she wasn't alone in the house and it was a fact she was used to now.

Alan felt the baby move under his hands.

"Hey, you know your dad's here, right?" he said.

Touched, Tin-Tin couldn't say anything at the time.

"Ah, How I'm longing to come home…" she sighed.

MORE TO FOLLOW


	3. Chapter 3: the surprise

And the following ! Sorry for the errors of language, english isn't my mother tongue.

_Chapter 3: __The surprise_

Alan came back to Tracy Island at dinner time, smiling and whistling.

"The doctors said the baby was imminent, it is a matter of days, but Tin-Tin is well, she's just tired and she looks forward to coming back here ..." he said to the rest of the family.

His brothers took him to the nursery they had just finished, and he exclaimed:

"It's beautiful, guys, thanks, you must have spent here so much time!"

The three looked at each other modestly and didn't answer.

"John has done his part too; he helped me to assemble the furniture. Your child is the first baby born here since us, we really wanted to do something ..." Gordon explained.

Alan knew how much his brothers liked children, as he did himself. Tin-Tin told him often he would be senile with his and he would have to lose this bad habit for the child to structure soundly. Between the uncles and the father, it was not won. The discussion continued during lunch, where the mission of the day was also discussed. Very common in the Tracy family. Brains announced that he would install a system in the nursery with an audio and video remotely monitor for the baby and this initiative was greeted with enthusiasm, as was his previous proposal, soundproofing the room. Given the specific activities of the family, it was a further precaution more than useful because the daily life of the house was marked by warnings, whatever the hour. All were aware that the child would not have quite a normal childhood, but they had resolved to preserve the maximum of all the excitement until he is old enough to make his own choice. The brothers tried to find out what were the names chosen, but Alan did say nothing, claiming that they have the surprise soon enough...

At three o'clock in the morning, the whole house was silent when the transmitter in Alan's room rang. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, answered and recognized the doctor who had followed the pregnancy of his wife.

"Mr. Tracy? Your wife told me to call you, the birth pangs started ..."

This phrase awoke instantly Alan.

"Yes, thank you, I'm coming ..."he answered.

He turned off the transmitter, jumped out of his bed and put on his clothes. The noise had awakened his brothers and Virgil, half asleep, had come out into the hallway in his pajamas. "Tin-Tin is giving birth, I'm running to the continent ... I'll let you know!" shouted Alan to his elder brother while running to the flight field.

And they heard his jet taking off some moments later. Knowing the event, no one could sleep again and Kyrano made strong coffee for everyone. They even woke up John on the space station, and he asked being kept informed. Everyone gathered in the central room and waited while drinking cups of coffee to stay awake. The night turned pale and died but it was not until the late morning for Alan finally called. He was pale, tired but an intense joy lightened up his face.

"The baby is born ... it's a girl!"

And he carefully lifted the little bundle of lace swaddling-clothes he held.

"Let me introduce Mandalay Tracy!" he said proudly.

Everyone was silent, in adoration in front of the little girl, then they began to congratulate the young father, everybody talking at the same time. Jeff Tracy, very moved, could not take off his eyes of the little girl who perpetuated his family, while the grandmother was wiping some tears of emotion in a lace handkerchief. Kyrano watched his new granddaughter with moist eyes. Alan finally said with some amusement at his older brothers:

"Sorry, guys, you were wrong ... but she will wrap you around her little finger soon!"

In fact, the baby with perfect traits promised to be very beautiful, with the special and exotic charm of Eurasian girls, and the first name that was chosen by her parents reflected that.

"Tin-Tin is well, she now rests and Mandalay will do the same in the nursery until her mom wakes up. I'll get home later but you can all come and see them tomorrow…" Alan said.

And the screen went out. There was a silence moved, no one knew what to say, the moment was too hard emotionally. Everybody forgot the sleepless night of waiting, fatigue, all was flown to the simple look of the pretty face of a baby. All the gentlemen discreetly wiped their eyes.

"Kyrano, alcohol-free champagne for everyone! We have to celebrate Mandalay's birth fittingly!"shouted Gordon.

The servant and proud grandfather went out and returned with the drink and flutes for everyone. A toast was raised to the birth of the little Mandalay and everyone feverishly awaited the moment when they could finally see her. Alan, when he returned home several hours later, at nightfall, was also entitled to the congratulations and a glass of champagne without alcohol, and Scott said: "Where did you find a name like that?"

"It's Tin-Tin who found it, it is the former royal capital of Burma, but it also evokes the Buddhist mandalas, it recalls that she has two cultures and we really liked that..." Alan explained while smiling.

"And it matched very well with our family name ..." he added.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	4. Chapter 4: first contacts

Here is the following ! Thanks to the readers and those who reviewed the last chapters and I hope this one will please you (except the language errors, I didn't find a beta reader yet, if someone wants to do it, just contact me)

_Chapter 4: first contacts_

The next day the three brothers were gathered around the little girl's cradle, looking puzzled, to Tin-Tin's amusement. None of them dared to take her, and Mandalay, wearing a white laced pajama, perfectly awake, was looking to her three uncles. Finally, Gordon leaned over and carefully took the little girl in his arms.  
"Hey, Mandalay, he said, I am your uncle Gordon, pleased to meet you, I'll teach you how to swim when you'll be older ..."  
He was a little clumsy, but he held firmly the baby who didn't move, didn't even wept. Gordon smiled, touched, and then he put her in Virgil's arms. Obviously, he was better at holding children as he laid her in the hollow of his arm, where she was well. She moved her arms and legs and Virgil smiled.  
"I'm your uncle Virgil, and when you'll come back home, I'll play the lullaby I composed for you ..."  
He stroked the velvety little cheek and Mandalay did a kind of grimace, a prelude to the smiles she didn't know how to do yet. Virgil, moved too and won, then handed over to Scott, who stiffened by receiving the little girl in his arms, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Relax, you're not going to hurt her and you will give her the impression of a chronic stressed uncle!" Alan said.  
This assertion made everyone laugh and helped to relax a little Scott, who found the right position to hold Mandalay.  
"I am your uncle Scott ... I don't know what I could teach you but I'll find ..." he only said.  
The girl moved her arms and legs and looked intently with her eyes having a color still elusive the eldest of his uncles. Scott, however, reluctant to any emotion, felt himself melting under the baby's gaze.  
Jeff Tracy then entered, accompanied by Lady Penelope and by Parker bringing a huge plush and several packages.  
"I came as quickly as possible when I had the news, it's wonderful!" she exclaimed, embracing the new parents.

Meanwhile, Jeff Tracy had approached of his eldest son and had taken his granddaughter in his arms. He controlled a lot his emotion but it be could read in his eyes and on his face. Silence fell around him, observing the first meeting between the patriarch and his granddaughter. Everyone knew that it reminded him of bittersweet memories.

"Welcome to our family, Mandalay, and may you carry our name with honor ..."he finally said with a smile.  
He then gave the little girl's to grandmother Tracy, who, finding gestures she had never forgotten, settled Mandalay in the hollow of her arm and put her finger into the little hand.  
It was then the turn of Kyrano who, too excited, couln't find words in English and spoke gently to the little girl in his native language, Thai. She listened attentively, as if she could understand the substance of what he said, but it was the tone that fascinated her.  
Alan said:  
"Let's do the first picture with everyone, we will put it in a frame and in her album ..."  
Mandalay was given to her mother, and everyone gathered around the bed while Alan was programming the timer and ran to position himself near his wife. Everyone showed a cheerful smile when the device triggered. Once the picture was taken, Penelope said:  
"I brought these few things ..."  
Tin-Tin, thanking her for her generosity, gave Mandalay to Alan and opened the packages. There were several dresses fit for a princess, pink and white, with several other outfits. Alan exclaimed:  
"It's too much, Penelope !"  
Despite the noise, Mandalay had fallen asleep and all lowered the tone of a hubbub of conversation. They remained until the nurse who came to treat Tin-Tin asked them politely but firmly to leave. They all greeted her and went out. Once out of the hospital, Jeff asked to Penelope to accompany them to Tracy Island for dinner, but she had other obligations and she said she would soon spend there a few days, when she could.  
The return to the island was in the midst of discussions of the brothers, who gushed with praise for their niece. Jeff was very quiet but his sons and his mother knew he was like that when he was moved and they were careful not to disturb him. Everyone ate quickly a cold meal, and then everyone retired to their room, realizing that the patriarch wanted to be alone. Jeff Tracy never displayed his feelings and his sons knew he was shy by nature, they also let him handle it alone. Seated behind his desk, in semi darkness, he stood there, staring at the family portrait he had taken from his drawer. At every important moment of the family, as for Alan's marriage, the absence of his wife was becoming almost unbearable and he felt the need to look at the portrait of happy days. Long, he looked the picture, speaking in his heart to the dear departed, telling her how beautiful Mandalay was and how he was happy with this birth.  
"Is it something wrong, Dad? "  
It was Alan's voice, arriving from the continent, which drew him from his thoughts. He stood in front of him, his hair tousled by the helmet, looking worried, but Jeff reassured him.  
"No, don't worry, my son, I'm fine..."  
But the expression of his youngest son's blue eyes told him that he wasn't fooled by his words.  
"I also think of her ..." Alan said.  
He had only few memories of his mother who died when he was little, but he often thought of her, especially in the moments where he really had wanted her to be there. He had wanted her to be among them when he said "I will" to Tin-Tin and see her hold the last little born of the family.  
"She would have loved to know Mandalay, but I believe that he can see us from where she is ..." Alan concluded calmly.  
A faint smile came on Jeff's face.  
"You're right, my son ... now go and rest, enjoy it, as soon as Mandalay will be at home you won't have no more the opportunity, believe me!»  
Alan went to his bedroom, undressed and fell into a heavy sleep, leaving his father alone with his memories...

_MORE TO FOLLOW_


	5. Chapter 5: firsts steps in the world

A big thank you to Math Girl, who corrected the chapter.

_Chapter 5: __First steps in the world_

_Two months later __  
_  
It was four o'clock in the morning, and everyone lay fast asleep in the silent house. Alan had returned the previous day and now he slept beside his wife. But the night's shadows were chased away when the electronic phone placed on his bedside table went off and Mandalay's cries shredded the predawn stillness. He awoke immediately, silently put on his dressing gown, then rose and left the room to go to the nursery. The little girl, lying in her crib, cried and flailed her small limbs. Alan took her up in his arms.

"What's going on, sweetie?"

There was bottle of water kept cool by a small refrigerator in a corner of the room. Shifting his tiny daughter in his strong grip, Alan went over and got the bottle and let her have a drink. Mandalay drank greedily, calming down at last while he checked to be sure that she had no fever and didn't need to be changed. Instead of going back to bed, though, he sat in a rocking chair to rock his small daughter until she went back to sleep, enjoying the moment of quiet intimacy. Only when she was peaceful and quiet did Alan set her back down on her soft bed.

Though the hour was early, and he was quite tired, he stood for a moment to make sure she slept well, and just looked at her. He missed her a lot when he was on the space station. That month in space had never seemed longer than it did now. Weird… but his father had been right when he said, "You won't see things the same way, ever again, once you've had a child". Now he lived for his young wife and baby daughter, and these vital loves motivated him more than anything else ever had, or could.

For now, thanks to the ingenuity of Brains, the nursery was insulated from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house, but Alan thought hard of the day he would tell his little girl the truth about International Rescue. Thank God, it wouldn't be for many long years ...

Mandalay grew in leaps and bounds during her first months of life. She was the darling of her uncles and grandfathers, who spent hours caring for and playing with her. Of course, she didn't escape the usual troubles and illnesses of infancy, but none were too serious, and Jeff Tracy engaged the very best pediatrician. Just like Kyrano, he loved his first grandchild to distraction. Nevertheless, there was a point on which the two grandfathers could not agree: who the little girl most resembled. Kyrano claimed that she looked just like his late wife, Tin-Tin's mother, while Jeff thought she was the very image of his own late wife, Lucy.

But willful as any child, Mandalay proved both opinions wrong by developing her own beauty; a perfect mixture of her parents. She took the almond shape of her mother's eyes, adding the sky-blue shade of her father's. Her hair was meanwhile not as dark as that of her mother, but tempered by Alan's bright blond to a medium brown.

From infancy, Mandalay was accustomed to her father's monthly absences, and to all the noises of the Tracy household; the rumblings of departure and return, so that she didn't think anything of them. Didn't everyone's father and home do the same?

Then, one bright tropical afternoon, everyone had gathered around the pool. For several months the activity had been rather quiet, giving everyone some much-needed rest. The little girl was now eleven months old. On this day, she was wearing a blue dress with suspenders and a hat, and she perched on Scott's knees while he spoke with his father beneath a sun umbrella. Eager to run and play, she tried to squirm free and drop to the ground, but he held her firmly with one hand, being well accustomed to such escape attempts. Near them, Virgil sat consulting some technical plans for emergency-equipment upgrades, while Gordon was quietly did a few laps in the pool. Tin-Tin showed up a few minutes later with her daughter's lunch and hot coffee for the gentlemen. Scott said,

"I'll feed her ..."

But Virgil had other ideas.

"You did it yesterday! It's my turn ..."

Another voice was heard:

"Sorry, pal. Back of the line. It's my turn."

This was John, returned only a week. Having missed so much, he didn't intend to let his elders monopolize his only niece. Scott gave up the fight with a good heart and sat with a vacant lap as Tin-Tin tied a bib around the neck of her daughter and brought the bowl of applesauce. By the time he had finished feeding the child, John had to change his cloths and Mandalay wore a smudged, happy smile.

Virgil and Scott laughed at the two of them, but John was unfazed. When he returned with a clean t-shirt, he gave them quite a superior look. They didn't have much time to enjoy this quiet moment, however, for they had a call. Jeff Tracy took out his special photo album and opened it.

"Yes, Alan?" He questioned.

Alan's image appeared, transmitted from the space station.

"We have a mission, guys: a team of NUMA oceanographers are stuck in their underwater station several thousand meters below the surface in North Atlantic, down in an inaccessible crevice. They've contacted us because they have no submarine capable of descending so far, and all their attempts have failed with automated probes ..." he explained.

Jeff's gaze shifted to his three present sons.

"Okay. Alan, you'll call and tell them that we're on our way. Scott, you head out to the danger zone. Virgil and Gordon too, as this will be a job for Thunderbird 4. Meanwhile, I'll call the central office of NUMA for specs on the underwater station, and let you know what I find out ..."

Eager as always, Gordon jumped out of the pool, gave a shake and a spin to dry himself and then changed clothes while his brothers sped to their ships. Ten minutes later, he was sitting with Virgil in Thunderbird 2, his hair still wet and disheveled, but dressed in a clean blue uniform with orange shoulder harness. The second ship took off with a roar, and for the first time in her young life, Mandalay saw Thunderbird 2 take off. She watched from the living room, where her mother had brought her when the alert began. The aircraft was impressive, but she didn't scream or weep, but merely watched it, fascinated. John noticed this.

"Well, we'll have fun explaining this later!" he said. "She's a born pilot."

Brains next came up with something in his hands, and spoke to Tin-Tin.

"I made what you asked me, with just a little improvement ..." he explained.

He then set on the ground a high-tech walker for Mandalay, to which he had added a stabilizing system so that it couldn't possibly overturn. Indeed, now that the little girl was standing firmly upright, it wouldn't be long before she took her first steps. Smiling gratefully, Tin-Tin took her small daughter and placed her in the walker, in which she did very well, scooting from one side of the room to another, clearly delighted. The gyroscopic system invented by Brains gave more stability to the little craft and Tin-Tin, with some amusement, noted that it had been painted in red, like Alan's rocket.

Brains, crazier about the little girl than he dared to say, laughed softly while Mandalay tested her new independence.

"I'm sure that with this she'll be walking in no time. Thank you so much, Brains." Tin-Tin said to him.

Embarrassed, the scientist blushed and stammered something that was cut off when Mandalay shot over to bump against his legs. Tin-Tin laughed, looking fondly down at her precious baby...

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
